Tomas Hertl

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement Sunday that despite Tomas Hertl’s decision to withdraw from the World Cup of Hockey, the 22-year-old forward remains on track to be ready to go for the start of the regular season.

“After speaking with Tomas, we’re pleased that he has chosen to put his commitment to the Sharks and his teammates first,” Wilson said. “I know he’s disappointed to not be able to represent his country but Tomas is on track to be ready for the start of the NHL season and he doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.

“Tomas had a breakthrough season last year, particularly in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and we’re excited to see him build on that progress this coming year.”

Knowing a long term deal is not too far off, Tomas Hertl was pleased to sign a two-year bridge contract with the Sharks. (Photo by Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Tomas Hertl has officially signed his bridge contract with the Sharks that will pay him $6 million over the next two seasons.

It won’t be long before Hertl and the Sharks re-enter negotiations for a longer contract that could make him one of the highest paid players on the team.

“There’s no doubt he’s going to be a dominant player and there will be a longer term contract in his future,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said of Hertl on Thursday via conference call. “But this is how we’ve handled players coming through this system. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate Tomas giving us a bridge contract. That allows us to keep this type of team together as we go through it.”

Tomas Hertl reportedly agreed to terms with the Sharks on a two-year, $6 million contract extension. (photo by Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group)

The Sharks crossed off a major item on their offseason to-do list Wednesday by reportedly agreeing to terms with Tomas Hertl on a two-year contract extension worth $6 million.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie first reported the terms of the deal, which carries an average annual value of $3.0 million.

Hertl was the most prominent of the Sharks’ restricted free agents this season and remains a major part of the Sharks’ future. He had 102 points in 200 NHL regular season games through three years. He is coming off a season in which he had a career best 21 goals and 46 points in 81 games.

It appears the time in teal for Nick Spaling, Roman Polak, James Reimer and Dainius Zubrus is coming to an end.

General manager Doug Wilson said Saturday he’ll probably let the players he picked up during the regular season that are pending unrestricted free agents head to the open market.

The Sharks signed Zubrus in November and added Spaling, Polak and Reimer near the trade deadline in February. All pending unrestricted free agents could begin talking to other teams Friday evening, with July 1 the first day they can sign with any team in the league.

Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Tomas Hertl’s lower body injury in improving but that he will remain out of the lineup for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It will be the fourth straight game that Hertl has missed. The Sharks are 2-1 in the series in his absence.

“Getting better every day,” DeBoer said of the 22-year-old forward, who appeared to be hurt in Game 2 of the series off a third period bodycheck from Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist.

Forward Tomas Hertl has a lower body injury and will not play in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday at SAP Center, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said.

DeBoer did not say who would be taking his place on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, but Melker Karlsson was on the Sharks’ top line in practice on Friday when Hertl did not skate. Hertl has 11 points in 20 playoff games.

Sharks forward Tomas Hertl is starting his second NHL playoff series Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center. But it’s fair to say it’s the first one where he’s felt like his normal self.

Two years ago, Hertl got his initial taste of playoff hockey when the Sharks faced the Kings in the first round. But he was less than four months removed from surgery to repair his right medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments after a knee-on-knee collision on with Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown on Dec. 19, 2013.

Hertl missed 45 games, but came back to play the final two of the 2013-14 regular season before he started the playoffs. In the bruising seven games series against the Kings, Hertl had five points and averaged over 13 minutes of ice time per game as a 20-year-old rookie.

Sharks players Joonas Donskoi, Tomas Hertl and Roman Polak have been chosen to represent their respective countries at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto this fall.

Donskoi, 23, was among 16 players named to Team Finland early Wednesday morning, and Hertl, 22, and Polak, 29, were among the 16 players named to Team Czech Republic. Each of the eight teams that will play in the World Cup had to select at least 16 players by Wednesday.

Each team will have a roster of 23 players: 20 skaters and three goaltenders, and the balance of each team’s roster must be announced no later than June 1.

The Sharks can climb to within two points of first place Los Angeles and with a win Thursday night over the Florida Panthers and some help from other teams around the league.

The Sharks are on the second game of a five-game trip, and will turn around and play in Carolina on Friday night. Sharks coach Pete DeBoer isn’t making any lineup changes, as Martin Jones remains in goal and Brenden Dillon remains out with an upper body injury.

Dillon is improving and was noticeably more active during Thursday’s morning skate than he was a couple days ago in Tampa, but he’s still day to day. DeBoer added he’ll decide which goalie he’ll start vs. Carolina after tonight’s game.

Joe Thornton recorded his 1,300th career NHL point Tuesday night, assisting on Joe Pavelski’s power play goal with 4:32 left in the second period in the Sharks’ game against the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center.

With the Sharks enjoying a two-man advantage, Thornton fed a pass across the front of the Avalanche net to Pavelski, who scored his team-leading 25th goal of the season. Thornton received an ovation and blew a kiss to the crowd as he was shown on the JumboTron at one of the next stoppages in play.